Problem Shooting
Dry Feet Not Too Wet Neck
BPP Introduced, Mooring Off Shore
 

Monday, Eastern 06/04/17
I wake up from not unpleasant dreams, falling roughly back down in all my problems. To contain it and not let it overflow my mind in unorderly ways, I list them to a brand new panel, which I baptize the Bloody Plobrem Panel. It  looks like this: [L:1234567abcdefghi - T:1234] (for profound explanation see BPP, for the explanation of "plobrem"see Kiswahili: l and r).

In the Hotel Triangle breakfast hall, two new white guests sit behind their papers. Belgian good doers. They watch my black paint stained hands with despise. I want to tell them:  you are helping people that point guns at me twice a month, even for money not worth the bullet, and your cash will result in even more of those thugs; while they are already heavily overbreeding! What Africa needs is crop failure, more lethal diseases and a sustained genocide. Why do you not stay and fight corruption at home? Go home, and do not start with the foreigners there, there are enough native criminals in Belgium. Nobody here in Africa understands what moves ethnic Belgians to come here and throw money around - money stolen from other Belgians! They honestly think you are crazy, and for one time, they are dead right.. But they catch your cash before it has a chance to reach your target, buy more guns and laugh behind your backs.  Go home Belgium, your money creates havoc here!
I realize my brain is just overheated and quickly pass the couple pressing my lips together with my fingers.
Not much later I see them explaining children's issues of environment protection with children's drawings on their flap over, most plobrably to a NEMA audience. No wonder they looked with such horror at the big cigar in my black stained hands! I am a pollutor, a crony of the devil himself! Again I feel inclined to whisper in passing: isn't it a pity it is of no use? But again to my luck I manage to restrain myself.

Right after breakfast I put tents over the deck, now not for rain, but for shade: it should reduce the shrinking and expansion of the deck due to sun and clouds (BPP plobrem 7d). Once Jonathan was on board, I planned for moving the dhow 50 m off shore, right between Hotel Triangle Annex and the Sailing Club. Mutassa could think I left. No man's water. But we had to have wood sawn in town first. Another delay was the happy occasion that Ben, recovering from diarrhea, wanted to have lunch in the Hotel's restaurant. I told Ben to put the bill on my room number, but Ben had found his wallet! (BPP plobrem 4). Wood seller and our wood cutter Richard, who had found Jonathan for me, wanted to join us to the boat. He amused himself making himself comfortable lying the entire day on a jerry can on the rear deck. I still have to train myself in enjoying that. But then the moment had come: we left Hotel Triangle and went 50 m off shore. For good!

Map: mooring site (open in a separate window)

My dhow is marked red in the three little maps above. I am moored Southward on two 100 m anchor lines with 50 kg anchors, in front of the now closed Sailing Club and at the East border of the golf course. It is the rainy season, which means one or two rainstorms a day with heavy gusts of wind followed by 20 mm rainfall on average, which means 1300 liter water on my deck or 88 buckets. East wind gusts make the 25 kg rear anchor drag to turn the bow windward, which is what we want for stability of the ship in the waves. With South storm our shore is lee, but this is no danger since the channel to the source of the Nile is only 1.5 km wide South-North. four hundred meter Westward, at the 8th hole of the golf course, the channel turns North to the "Source of the Nile". Current around my ship depends on the inlets of the power dams down the "Source", which maintain limits nowadays because of the lower water level of Lake Victoria. Officially, Uganda now has power every other day, but at your "power" day you will have cuts up to 50% of time, so effectively everybody has net power 25% of time, and which time exactly is not to be known beforehand. I do not use it and have sun panels and a generator. The present lake water level, I have been told by old people, is still more than a meter higher than that of the early 1950's, before the dam was built, which is confirmed by the most recent lake map - the picture above is a sample - which is from 1901, updated until 1955, but this does not prevent the vast majority of East Africans to blame "the dam" for the low water level.
Moving 50 kg anchors on 100 m lines with a canoe is something you have to learn. Half way the job, I stated pregnant that I would not mind if the rest of the crew would start its own business instead of drinking soda's and watching me sweating in the stiff wind with my anchors. Finally, exhausted, no more energy for caulking today, I could report that next time I would know how to do it. And  But we were off!! (BPP plobrem 2). And Jonathan had made a Ben-proof removable ladder for the transom (BPP plobrem 3). Today, Ben mainly talked a lot, but that was a joy to me after having seen him silently suffering for more than a week. Off shore, it is considerably cooler, also under deck (BPP plobrem 7d, though it does not solve it). We got a better signal there for our wireless internet (BPP plobrem 7i). Further testing is for later.
The main harvest, mainly of the move off shore, is the switch of my mind from the what-am-I-doing-here to the what's-next mode.

Photo (taken later, at the report time we were still missing the camera charger): view in West direction: boat with ladder on new site, the "banda" back at the German Bight is a small reed thatched house that originally was to be my home (explanation of banda), a distinctively rain season wind and sky.

State of BPP: [L:1234567abcdefghi - T:1234]

Photo: West view: German Bight (map, explanation) digital zoom

Week 4

Tuesday 06/04/18
Rain at night. Ben does not need to chalk-mark a lot of leaks. In the morning, remains of our two component paint in the plastic can show that once dried it remains elastic. We merely hoped for gluing, but we have elasticity as well! Jonathan works at the rear hatch, the last one. I do some rough caulking with paint mixed with saw dust , Ben does the 230V tubes and sockets starboard. For dhow security (BPP plobrem 1), I start to think of a "baby sitter" concept: in case of my absence, no professional sailors, no commercial security watchmen, but unarmed perfectly incompetent "sitters" on the boat, just endowed with a mobile phone, and numbers of troubleshooters in case of security threat (a security company) and maritime hazards (a trusted sailor, for instance from the village). The the baby sitter can, if thought wise, be locked out of the main cabin, simply have a chair and a torch on the steering deck.  Jonathan wants on the "babysitter" list..
Bloody Plobrem Panel (BPP) [L:1234567abcdefghi - T:1234]

Wednesday 06/04/19
Ben mounts the LEIP (Local Electro Ironical Panel), a panel with 12 and 230V switches and fuses, the battery charger, sun panel regulator, 12 to 230 V converter, and hardware for the wiring between those boxes and switches. Emma, the canoe broker, brings me to another Emma (Emmanuel in full), an outboard mechanic and ferry captain of the village, who has an old 8 hp Yamaha outboard ("ferries" are canoes of 5 up to 12 m, the smallest often powered by paddles, the larger ones by outboard engines). I go and inspect the  Yamaha outboard with my motorcycle whiz kid Moses, who approves and recommends a price of USh 1 600 000/= (Euro 720). The outboard will be for the canoe, but we will also mount a removable support behind the rudder of the dhow.

Picture: Design for motorized dhow movement for short distance (up to 10 km) in light weather

We think we can move up to 5 km/hrs under 2 Bf wind. The outboard will be steered by moving the rudder. Gas and gearbox will be operated by cables from the dhow deck.
With Jonathan I buy the parts for the vertical side of the hatches, wooden frames spanning steel bars and mosquito wire. I phone Madhvani to ask his consent for my mooring. He wants it on fax. I send it.

Thursday 06/04/20
Jonathan mounts the vertical panel of the main hatch,

Photo: main hatch (design: commander, production: Jonathan): the vertical part, sheltered by overhang for rain, is just a 3 mm steel bar grid with mosquito wire.

Ben mounts the 12 V tubes and TL system on the ceiling, Bert: caulking, caulking, caulking. 

Friday 06/04/21
In the night a grade A number 1 thunderstorm from the danger (East) side. We are lying Southward (see map). Fortunately, our rear anchor is no match to it  The dhow simply turns on its two 50 kg bow anchors, dragging the rear anchor. An unattended wooden ferry, built like a canoe, but not much smaller than us, is dragging our way, but the rain-wind fortunately diminished in time. The ferry's anchor got grip. Our beds did not stay dry, but the problems seem limited and local. We feel we could possibly close the deck by some local trouble shooting. If not, we shall cover the whole deck with transparent two component acrylic paint mixed with sand to avoid slip.
In the morning we discover that our canoe is lost in the storm: mooring line broken. It was retrieved by a harbour villager. Impressed by his own honesty, he wanted USh 40000/= or 25% of the value. I had already left for shopping in Kampala, ordering Jonathan to negotiate and Ben to pay, so I simply complied with the negotiation result.
On my way to Kampala I got the idea to use one of my 4 solar panels to run - directly - a pump watering my deck through a long tube with holes. That way, the watering would simply start and stop with sunlight, exactly the times when we want it to happen. No linseed on the deck, just Sikaflex, two component acrylic paint and...water to prevent the deck wood from shrinking and cracking, and to keep deck and cabin below cool.
In Kampala I bought 5 super halogen torches: 2 for lanterns high in the mast, 2 to mount on sticks on deck, to be turned and directed from down deck, for targeting suspects, and 1 for the hand, 8 12V TL tubes for the cabins, and 12V wire.
On my way back ING bank called from Holland: an "routing number" had failed (no field in the internet form to complete that). They had found it. The 10 000 euro would arrive. SMS from Mwanza: Daniel had decided to accuse Philemon of stealing everything from my boat. No chance for him: nobody will believe him. That message I send him by SMS in my best Kiswahili.
On my way back Hotel Triangle Annex owner Mutassa summoned me for a "new round of talks". He hinted at my use of his parking and my canoe mooring at his property. I thought USh 2 000 000/= hotel fees had been enough to spend on him and told him I  had no time for another "round of talks". My dhow was out on his whims, now my car, motor cycle and canoe with immediate effect. The village shore will my canoe landing spot. I will have to find some safe parking there. The pickup could be at 2 Friends restaurant.
Ben, finishes the 12 V wiring system, it remains to mount the 6 TL tubes I bought today.
Jonathan finishes the mosquito and steel bar frame of the rear hatch. All hatches ready now.

Saturday 06/04/22
Three rainstorms this day, with many leakages. Caulking is impossible. We buy parts to make the kitchen. Jonathan shows himself ready, yes eager, to finish that kitchen tomorrow, a Sunday.

Sunday 06/04/23
I caulk. Jonathan does not appear: "we're baptizing someone"

Monday 06/04/24
My last round of caulking: seams and cracks.
Jonathan again does not appear. Being phoned he says "I am coming". He does, but very late.